someone trying to remove space from sudoroom - sudo-discuss

28 Nov 2023

I don't know why Andrew is trying to remove 72 square feet of space from
Sudoroom while there are plenty of rooms and spaces at Omni which would be
great for storage, and are being totally unused (several areas downstairs)

But I would like for our delegate to oppose selling off any of Sudoroom's
space.  I do think it would be great for Omni to rent space to the Oakland
Tool Lending Library for $700 per month in an unused part of the building.

I think there are plenty of things people have been doing to make Sudoroom
nicer and more welcoming, and there's plenty more that we could be doing, and
people should come in and get involved.

I don't like how Andrew's words about Omni and Sudoroom sound a bit like the
group that we had to remove, who wanted to "revolutionize" the space to be
what they thought it should be, without input from anyone else.

I do like the idea of partnering with the Tool Library in terms of workshops
and skill sharing, and connecting to their broader network of people though.

This also reminds me of when someone else suggested moving Sudoroom into the
basement and claimed that we hadn't been paying our rent (we were actually
fully paid up and paid ahead a bit at the time)

-jake

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:32:56 -0800
From: Andrew R Gross &lt;arg5029(a)gmail.com&gt;
To: consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org, finance(a)lists.omnicommons.org
Subject: Re: [omni-consensus] Financial Report

I went to a meeting of the Oakland tool library a few months ago, and
they've got a somewhat inverted situation to us: they have a lot of money
that they're not sure how to use.

They're located out of the Piedmont branch of the Oakland public libraries,
just up the street from us, and they rent a storage locker about a half
mile south of Omni.

I asked, and they spend about $700 a month on a locker where they store
tools that they then drive by pickup truck up to the library twice a month
for a tool sale. They know Omni and Sudo through Peter Mui, but not that
well, but they said that they'd just as soon give us the money as the
storage locker business. If we set up a storage space on the ground floor
in Sudo Room, we could convert around 12 x 6 feet of floor space into $700
a month.

Additionally, they're pretty well organized, but they don't have a lot of
volunteers. If we partnered with them and cleaned up Sudo room, we could
start running fixit workshops and tool-use classes and things, which could
bring in revenue and members for Sudo Room. Overall, I think they have a
much better culture of Sudo Room, and could help connect us to a broader
network of people who share our mission but may not fall into the
traditional demographics we're connected with.

I really burned out of Sudo Room and Omni, but I'd like to come back in
2024 if I'm part of a functioning team, focused on genuinely reforming
Omni, starting with Sudo Room. It's a huge space that isn't well utilized
or welcoming to new members. I still believe a well-organized group of
about five people could change that, and create virtuous cycle that could
turn a lot of things around.

*Andrew R Gross, (he/him)*
412.657.5332    -   shrad.org <http://www.shrad.org>